Welcome to NorCal Camporal

We trust that this “Instruction Guide” will encourage you and your Squad as you prepare for and practice this year’s Camporal events.

Registration Instructions

1. All competition is between Squads.

2. A Squad is to be made up of five young men, between 7th and 12th grade, each of whom is involved in Battalion with CSB for this school year. 6th grade boys may participate if they are members of their Battalion. If a church cannot have 5-man Squads, they may have 4-man, 6-man, or 7-man.

3. A church may have as many Squads as possible attend. If there is more than one Squad from a church, all Squads must be as evenly matched in ability as possible.

4. Each Squad is required to provide their camping and cooking equipment, food, and clothing. Cold or rainy weather is always a possibility! Squads should bring a table and folding chairs for meals. See below. Cars must be parked in the designated area after unloading. Squad members may not sleep in vehicles. Adults may sleep in recreational vehicles.

5. To register, a Squad must register online at CSBwest.com or send a completed Squad Registration Form along with the fee of $25.00 per person(men and squad members) to:

NorCal Camporal

c/o Dave Gregg

524 Hudson Ave

Oakdale, CA 95361

Checks should be made payable to CSB for California. ßVERY IMPORTANT

6. Additional copies of these instructions may be made locally.

7. All registrations must be submitted online or mailed no later than March 31st. Late Registrations may be submitted online or phoned in to (510) 209-3678; however, a late fee of $20.00 per Squad will be imposed.

8. Individuals may be substituted prior to the Camporal. No notification is required. Individuals may be added to a registered Squad, payable at the Camporal. No refunds for “no shows.”

9. Each Squad is required to bring at least one watch to be used in each event, two knives for Fire Building, and a #10 can with 5 ropes for the Tin Can Relay. A Squad may also bring a hatchet (no longer than 21” overall) and/or a protractor-style compass. No GPS, calculator or similar device including such functions built into phones may be used at the Camporal.

10. All men (over High School age) will come as “Staff.” Staff fees are also $25.00 each. All Staff who attend with a Squad will eat Saturday breakfast with their Squad. Saturday lunch and supper they will eat with a Squad from another church. Meals will be provided for those Staff not directly associated with a Squad. All participants are encouraged to stay for Sunday brunch (included with registration) and worship service.

11. Instructions and events will be followed to the letter, unless all participants are notified by consent of the Staff.

12. A Squad may be disqualified from an event for “unsportsmanlike conduct” at the request of an event judge. The decision must be finalized by the Camporal Staff.

13. All participants and Staff who have never attended the Camporal will receive one official Camporal patch. Additional patches will be for sale at the Camporal. All participants and Staff will receive this year’s Camporal Rocker patch. Rockers from previous years will be available.

Competition Scoring

In addition to competition in ten specific events, points will be given for Flag Design, uniforms and formations, and meals. Each of these is fully described in this section.

Flag Design

Each Squad may have a banner of their own design and material. It will be used in the opening and closing formation, and will remain in the Squad’s campsite during the day (for judging). It is not necessary that the banner be original; it may have been used at previous Camporals. Banners will be judged and receive points for design, originality, quality and creativity. The banner must not be over 3’x5’ in outside dimension, with a pole or poles which will keep it off the ground. All banners will receive points. Banner must have been made prior to arrival at the Camporal site. No construction or modification may be made once the Squad arrives.

Uniforms and Formations

Points will be added to the Squad for each member wearing the official CSB Battalion uniform shirt or CSB Battalion T-shirt at the opening and closing formations. Battalion designed T-shirts will also count for points, however designs should be embroidered, silk-screened, or a similar process (i.e., marker on an undershirt will not get points!). Each Squad member will be given points for being present and in formation, at “Parade Rest” with no talking, at formation. Formations will be at the printed time, and no whistle or other warning will be given for formation.

Meals

Each Squad will be required to provide two meals (Saturday lunch and supper) with two Staff men present as guests and judges at each meal. The Staff will be assigned – they will not come from the Squad’s church. Therefore, a 5-man Squad will provide food and seating for 7 people for those two meals. Lunch may be hot or cold, supper must be cooked. No electric device may be used. Cooking may be done over any type of camp stove, charcoal grill or open fire. If an open fire is used, the Squad must provide a fire container. Fires may not be built on the ground. Squads must bring basins for washing dishes. Dish washing will not be allowed at any sink, drinking fountain, or tap. Please note that everyone in the Squad, including your two guests, must eat the same meal—you may not have different meals for your guests. Please note that courtesy to guests and to fellow squad members counts for twice as many points as any other category.

See the Meal Evaluation Score Sheet for judging criteria and scoring. Each of the two adults acting as the guest of your squad will submit a score and will be added to the raw score of the other events. A middle score indicates an adequate or average score for each category. Two of the questions are either scored “0” or “5” – either all washed their hands or not, either they prayed or didn’t. No adult men are to be involved in food preparation of any judged meal, either during the Camporal or prior to arrival. Please make sure squad leaders have a chance to review the score sheet including the instructions on page 2 for meal planning purposes.

IMPORTANT: You must provide your own tables and chairs. We do not provide those.

Competition Events

Memory Verses

The memory passage for this year will be available on the website, http://www.csbwest.com/norcal-camporal.html Points will be given for each verse correctly quoted by each Squad member. Verses must be quoted word-for-word. Squad members may practice while in line, but must be out of earshot of the person quoting the verse for points. Any mistake will cause the verse to be stopped. That Squad member may not quote that verse again for at least 1 minute. Each squad member only has three attempts during each verse rotation to attempt a recitation. Verses may be quoted for points only during the memory times on the schedule. Any Squad member may use any Bible translation. Each Squad must supply the judge with the translation, either a Bible or the verses typed that they will be quoting. Note: ALL MEMBERS OF THE SQUAD MUST BE INVOLVED IN MEMORY RECITATION REGARDLESS OF SQUAD SIZE. Squad size will be taken into consideration in scoring to ensure fairness. 6 points per person who completes the whole verse will be added to the overall memory verse score. Please review the verse score sheet for scoring totals and other details.

Fire Building

Objective: to build a fire high enough and hot enough to burn through a string suspended several inches above the ground. Rules: Each Squad will be supplied with a hatchet, two wooden matches, a cotton ball, a pair of safety glasses, and a 2x6 8 inches long. The Squad must provide two knives. A Squad may bring their own hatchet if they desire (not over 21” overall). Only wood from the 2x6 may be used in the fire (no twigs, grass, or other external props). The cotton ball must touch the base pan and may not go more than 2” above the pan. Once the match is lit, it may not go higher than 2” above the pan. No one may pick up a burning piece of wood. The pan may be moved as long as it remains on the ground; however, the ground may not be mounded up beneath the pan. The person using the hatchet must wear safety glasses. No wood may touch the string or its support frame. Each Squad is given only two matches, however additional matches may be “purchased” for a price of 30 seconds each. Fastest time to burn through the string wins.

A tool may be brought by each squad to hold the log safely if they so desire.

Knot Tying

There are 6 knots. Refer to the attached Knot Sheet for the official knots. NOTE: the timber hitch has been replaced by the alpine butterfly loop, and a round turn has been added to the two half hitches. Each Squad member should know all 6 knots. Please note that the bowline must be tied onto a ring. The clove hitch and 2 Half Hitches must be tied on a post/rail as if the post/rail has no end over which the knot can be slipped. And the Double Figure Eight is to be tied as a single figure eight then looped through a ring and back-wove into the single figure eight to form the double figure eight. The Sheet Bend must use the thicker rope for the first bend, like the blue rope in the images, and the thin rope around it. Rope, ring, and post will be provided.

Each knot is written on one stick. Pull stick from a container and tie the knot listed on the stick. If the knot is tied to the judge’s satisfaction, the stick is withdrawn from further competition. If not, the Squad member may continue trying and must consume a total of two minutes before returning to the Squad, and the stick is returned to the container. In either case, the Squad member must untie the knot before returning to the Squad. Fastest time wins. Squad members are NOT allowed to yell out instructions to their team mates during competition.

Initiative Test

Each Squad must work together to complete an Initiative Test which will be explained at the event. No Squad may observe another Squad during the Initiative Test, unless they themselves have already completed the event.

Compass Course

Objective: To complete the assigned course as accurately as possible. Each Squad will need to break itself into two teams. Each team will be given separate coordinates and will need to work independent from one another in completing the event. Each team will be supplied with a protractor style compass and course instructions. Nothing may be used other than the compass (personal or supplied) and Squad members for navigating the course. A 100-foot “measured strip” will be provided to measure the length of your stride. The stride must be paced off at a standard walking pace, no one may walk it toe-to-heal (even if someone has one-foot long feet!). The course will consist of three magnetic bearings and three distances. The Squad will navigate the assigned course along the provided coordinates. Once the Squad agrees upon the location of the final coordinate, the Squad will place the provided nail at the spot. A Squad may navigate their assigned course as many times as they wish in the allotted time, but must have only one final coordinate for scoring. The score is the distance between the Squad’s final coordinate and the proper end point.

Warning: Any large metallic object (e.g., a belt buckle) may potentially attract a compass needle. Please be aware of this as you are participating in the event.

Obstacle Course

The objective is for the Squad to carry water through a course and pour it into a container at the finish line. This is a timed event, completed when the Squad successfully carries 5 gallons of water. The Squad will be given two containers to carry the water. Each Squad member will take his turn carrying the water until the 5 gallons is reached. Stay in rotation.

Hammer Jenga

The objective is to build the tallest set of blocks. Height is measured by total number of stable levels. A level consists of one or more blocks.

Two squad members work as a team to remove a block and place it on the top of the stack. You can use the hammers or your hands to remove a block and place it on the top of the stack. When the block is placed on top, a different team of two people remove the next block. The same person may not go two times in a row.

You may not reset, adjust, or in anyway purposefully manipulate the stack in order to better position or brace it. You may “test” a block to select the one you wish to remove. (Any block that has had a complete level of blocks above it may be selected.) You may only manipulate one block with the hammers and your hands for the purpose of removing it, and then placing it on the top of the stack. The top level must be complete before stacking a block above it on the next level.

WARNING! The wood is heavy. Wear closed toe shoes and be careful to move when the stack falls. If the stack falls and you have time to reset and restart then you may use the tallest of your attempts.

Mystery Event

For those of you who have attended previous years, the “chariot race” event will be replaced by a mystery event. This is NOT an initiative event, but you will not know what it is until you get there.

Canoe Race

Each Squad will be provided with 5 life jackets and a canoe. Squads will paddle around a fixed course in a timed race. All Squad members must be inside the canoe. Life jackets must be worn. No paddles will be provided. Only hands (including arms) may be used to propel the craft. A “LeMans” start is required, so time placing the canoe in the water and entering the canoe is included. If the canoe swamps, the time will stop while the canoe is brought to shore and its water dumped, but will then continue. If staff deem it unsafe to canoe, another event may be substituted.